Everything we know about The Black Phone 2

Ethan Hawke will return as The Grabber in the horror sequel

Ethan Hawke as The Grabber in The Black Phone
Ethan Hawke as child abductor The Grabber in The Black Phone. (Universal Pictures)

The Black Phone 2, a sequel to 2021 horror The Black Phone, is on the way from Universal and Blumhouse with hopes that the follow-up will kick start a brand new horror franchise.

Based on a short story by horror author Joe Hill, The Black Phone chronicled one young boy’s attempt to escape from the basement of a deranged masked child abductor known as The Grabber.

While he does everything he can to escape the Grabber’s home, he receives a series of mysterious phone calls from a black rotary phone on the basement wall that appears to connect him with the disembodied voices of The Grabber’s previous young victims.

Read more: The real-life killer inspiration behind The Black Phone

With the voices offering advice on how he can escape, the race is on for the young boy to make it out of his perilous situation alive and avoid a similar fate that’ll land him on the dialling end of The Black Phone.

With a second part in the works, here’s everything we know so far about The Black Phone 2.

Brady Hepner and Mason Thames in The Black Phone
The sequel will be released just in time for Halloween 2024. (Universal Pictures)

The Black Phone 2 will hit UK cinemas on 17 October 2025, just in time for Halloween.

Originally, the film was set to be a summer release, releasing on 27 June. However, this was later pushed by four months to give the film an autumnal debut date instead.

No such luck. With production still in the early stages, there’s no trailer available for The Black Phone 2 at the moment. As soon as it arrives, we’ll give you a call.

Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw in The Black Phone
The original film was based on a short story by horror author Joe Hill. (Universal Pictures)

With The Black Phone 2 still in pre-production, little is currently known about its plot details. In fact, no official plot synopsis has been announced by Universal or Blumhouse, which means that the story could go in any direction.

Still, part one’s director, Scott Derrickson, has already publicly discussed plans for a follow-up and teased that the story’s creator has a great concept for what it could entail.

“Joe Hill pitched me a wonderful idea for a sequel to Black Phone that, if this movie does well, I’m gonna do it. He’s got a great idea, I really liked it,” he told ComicBook.com in 2022.

“Joe’s very protective and personal about his material, but he came to me with the idea and I was like, ‘That’s how you do a sequel to Black Phone. That’s terrific’.”

While remaining cryptic, Derrickson seems to suggest that Hill has a very specific idea for a follow-up in mind.

Of course, it’s worth remembering that horror sequels have a tendency to go off-piste and tell left-field stories connected to their primary narrative.

This could mean that The Black Phone 2 could be a prequel, showing us how The Grabber and his supernatural telephone came to exist. Alternatively, it could be told from the point of view of the undead children at the other end of the phone, explaining how they came to haunt the home of the film’s central serial killer.

Until we get an official plot description, the story for The Black Phone 2 remains as murky as The Grabber’s internet search history.

Ethan Hawke attends the Film Independent special screening of Wildcat
Ethan Hawke will return as The Grabber in The Black Phone 2. (Getty)

Ethan Hawke will return as The Grabber, despite meeting a pretty definitive end-point in part one (no spoilers here) — and Derrickson will be back as the film’s director.

They’ll be joined by a host of returning stars, including Mason Thames as Finney, the young boy who was abducted in part one.

Madeleine McGraw will return as Gwen, Finney’s younger sister who receives psychic visions of The Grabber’s exploits. Miguel Mora will be back as Finney’s best friend Robin and Jeremy Davis will once again play Finney and Gwen’s alcoholic father Terrence.

As it stands, that’s all the casting details we have at the moment. Where’s The Black Phone when you need it?


The Black Phone 2 will be released in cinemas on Friday 17 October 2025.